South Placer Water Polo roundup: Lady Grizzlies and Eagles lead SFL, Roseville boys win four out of last five matches

League play is heating up for a plethora of boys' and girls' water polo teams from the south Placer area and a number of players are showing why they are some of the best in the Sac-Joaquin Section. Here is a look at how local teams and athletes are performing. Sierra Foothill League The Granite Bay girls' water polo team is 8-1 and has won the last five matches by a combined 63 goals. The Lady Grizzlies only loss on the season came in a tournament against Clovis West. The team has scored an average of 15 goals per game and have been led by senior captain Avery Moll with 42 goals on the season, fourth most in the section, along with nine assists. She scored seven goals in a 13-4 win over Oak Ridge on Sept. 22, including three in the fourth quarter. "I think our team has been doing a great job of just setting up the good drives and post ups," Moll said. "We have been able to work on doing a one-two side attack which I love, so it's awesome when the team can come together and create those positive possessions." Lola Engel and Maddie Myers have also played well offensively for the Grizzlies with 20 and 14 goals, respectively. Granite Bay High's boys' team has also been playing solid water polo as they have won four of their last six matches, including a 17-4 win against Oak Ridge on Sept. 22. Carmelo Bangs and Cayden Williams both scored three goals in the match while Seth Bousfield scored twice. Senior goalkeeper Troy Barker had six saves in the contest. Both teams will square off against Woodcreek on Thursday, after press time, and will travel to Del Oro on Tuesday. The Lady Eagles of Del Oro High also got off to a solid start as they are 11-5 following a win against Oak Ridge on Tuesday. They are averaging more than 10 goals per game and have been led by star senior captain Heidi Green, who is first in the state with 76 goals and is currently fifth in the nation. "The things that help me be so successful are my ball awareness, picking shooting angles and not being afraid to take shots from the outside," Green said. "I can look off a goalie and have a strong willingness to fight to finish in front of the cage or draw ejections to help our team score more points. My biggest goals for the rest of the season are to lead my team through the league and become league champions, then move on to sections and hopefully get pretty far there." Juniors Jane Lubiens and Carson Zerwas have each scored 23 goals apiece while junior goalkeeper Maya Oshetski has averaged nearly seven saves per game. The boys' team is out to a great start as well at 8-1 after beating Oak Ridge on Tuesday and has been playing great defense, holding opponents to under seven goals per game. Senior Cayden Pitzer has 35 goals and seven assists for the Golden Eagles while Bode Farren is currently at 80 saves. Rocklin High defeated Granite Bay High 9-7 on Tuesday and has still been playing great at 10-3. The Thunder have a number of players who are a threat on the attacking front. Senior Eddie Hill has 40 goals and nine assists while Dallin Podeska and Jack Mangelsdorf have 24 and 21 goals, respectively. The Thunder were co-league champions with the Grizzlies in 2021 and are looking at going back-to-back. The Lady Thunder have been struggling as of late, losing five of their last six matches after starting 3-2. They have nine seniors on the team, many of whom played in 2021 such as goalkeeper Kaiden Comer. Rocklin High also has five juniors, including Makenna Perez, who was third in total shot attempts last season. The girls' team will play in a tournament this weekend that starts with McClatchy on Friday. The boys will play their next match at Whitney on Tuesday. The Whitney High boys' team is 2-3, following a 15-7 loss against San Marin in a tournament last Friday. The Wildcats have defeated Bella Vista and Novato and are led by seniors Brayden Bennett and Tucker Wagnon. The girls' team has yet to win a game at 0-4 and have scored a combined 17 goals so far this season. They will compete in the Grizzly Classic on Friday and Saturday with their first game being against Inderkum on Friday afternoon. Capital Valley Conference The Roseville Tigers are 6-4 and have won four of their last five matches after a 19-8 victory against Casa Roble on Tuesday. After a slow start in the first quarter, the Tigers began pouring it on offensively with seven goals in the second quarter. Junior Connor Bales led the way with six goals while Logan Macaluso and Keaton Boatwright both scored three goals. Bales has played water polo ever since sixth-grade and has 25 goals on the season. "I feel like we are communicating more and everyone is starting to be where they need to be," Bales said. "Our defense has gotten a lot better at covering our man and dropping into that set when we need to. We need to still work on swimming and counter attacking." On Monday, the Tigers defeated Bella Vista for the first time since 2014. They will play their next match on Monday at Nevada Union High. The girl's team is 2-4 with wins coming against Rio Linda and Nevada Union. The Lady Tigers were narrowly defeated 13-11 on Tuesday against Casa Roble. Ainslie Stormer led the way with three goals while the goalkeeper duo of Abi Decker and Sara Ashby combined for 11 saves. The team is full of sophomores and juniors and only has two seniors. Many players are first-year competitors and the Tigers have played multiple junior varsity matches. They will play their next varsity game on Tuesday at home against Christian Brothers. The Woodcreek High boys' team has also won four of their last five matches, including an 18-6 win against Inderkum on Monday. The Timberwolves have been led by senior Caden Rutan, who scored 23 goals in the first four matches of the season. Jack Donnell totaled 33 saves in his first five games. The Lady Timberwolves are 6-7 but snapped a three-game losing streak on Monday, handing Inderkum its first loss of the season. The team has nine seniors, four juniors and two sophomores. Hailey Hensley is one of those seniors and scored six goals in the teams' first win against Oak Ridge back on Sept. 12. Foothill Valley League The West Park Lady Panthers picked up its first win of the season on Sept. 20 in a 18-14 victory over Nevada Union. The team suffered losses to Inderkum and Ponderosa earlier in the season. Their next match is against Oakmont on Tuesday. The boys' team has yet to win a match but has scored a combined 18 goals in three matches. The team played Bear River on Thursday, after press time. Oakmont High has yet to win a game with their boys' or girls' teams but the Lady Vikings scored at least 10 goals twice while the boys' team lost a close match 10-7 against Del Campo on Sept. 22. The boys face Nevada Union on Thursday before both teams face West Park on Tuesday.